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Datalog/Beginner's Primer
This page contains a list of all Datalog entries regarding the events that take place in the Lightning Saga before the start of Final Fantasy XIII-3. ''Final Fantasy XIII'' Prologue Cocoon - a utopia in the sky. The populace live a life of ease under the protection of almost godlike beings known as the 'fal'Cie.' The lowerworld, Pulse, over which Cocoon floats, is believed to be a land both hostile and uninhabitable. One day, on Cocoon, a dangerous Pulse fal'Cie is uncovered in the seaside settlement of Bodhum. The governing body, known as the Sanctum, announces that all residents of the town are now contaminated. The Purge is enacted - legislation that requires every citizen from the affected area to be forcibly relocated to Pulse. Chapter 1 - Hanging Edge The Purge has begun. A band of young rebels emerges to oppose the army and its attempt to exile innocent civilians to Pulse. Moving through the midst of the confusion is Lightning, a soldier who fights against the Sanctum's forces, along with Sazh, a middle-aged man with his own purpose. She makes her way toward the structure where the Pulse fal'Cie was found. In that lowerworld 'vestige,' her sister Serah is being held prisoner. Others also converge on the same location: Snow, Serah's fiancé; Hope, the teenager who watched his mother perish; and Vanille, a young girl of unknown origin. All those who would play a part in Cocoon's future are unknowingly drawn together. Chapter 2 - Pulse Vestige Fal'Cie possess the power to transform humans into accursed l'Cie. Both Lightning and Snow have entered the vestige to rescue Serah from just such a fate. As if guided by an unseen force, the would-be saviors arrive in the deepest part of the structure along with Sazh, Hope, and Vanille. There the five discover a bewildered Serah, only to witness her transformation into crystal. Lightning, driven by rage at losing her sister, hurls herself at the Pulse fal'Cie. She is joined in the battle by a determined Sazh, who has his own reasons for wanting the fal'Cie destroyed. Chapter 3 - Lake Bresha The battle with the Pulse entity changes the destiny of the five companions forever. They have become l'Cie - cursed servants of the fal'Cie. All l'Cie are given a 'Focus.' Those who complete this Focus are turned into crystal. Those who fail, however, are doomed to become mindless monsters. Their master is an enemy of Cocoon. Are they now fated to destroy their own home? As the others sink into depression, only Snow retains a positive outlook. He believes that Serah's last wish, for them to 'protect Cocoon,' is their true Focus. Snow stays behind to protect her crystal, while Lightning and the rest attempt to break through the army's rapidly closing net. Chapter 4 - Vile Peaks Lightning and her companions, now enemies of the state, are pursued by Sanctum forces. The former soldier makes a decision - rather than be hunted down, she vows to take the fight to Cocoon's capital and slay the fal'Cie in charge of the government. The young boy Hope, drawn by Lightning's strength, chooses to follow her. Sazh and Vanille choose another route and flee through the Vile Peaks. Meanwhile, Snow is captured by an army unit under the guidance of a mysterious woman known as Fang. These soldiers are members of 'the Cavalry' - a group that professes to be an ally of l'Cie. Chapter 5 - Gapra Whitewood As part of their journey towards the capital and the Sanctum fal'Cie, Lightning and Hope enter the Gapra Whitewood. The Whitewood serves as an experimental facility for the army, but patrols here are few and infrequent. As they walk, Hope explains his reasons for being there. At Snow's urging, Hope's mother joined the battle at the Hanging Edge and was killed in the fighting. The grief-stricken youth had then chased Snow into the vestige. Lightning tries to counsel the young man, but Hope's desire to exact revenge on Snow burns brighter than ever. Chapter 6 - Sunleth Waterscape With no place else to go, Sazh and Vanille find themselves wandering the Sunleth Waterscape. Sazh eventually spills his story to Vanille. He explains that he joined the fight for the sake of his son, Dajh, who had been chosen as a l'Cie servant by a Sanctum fal'Cie. Sazh thought that if he could defeat an enemy of Cocoon, he might release his son from his Focus. After hearing his story, Vanille is consumed with guilt. Both she and Fang are Pulse l'Cie, and enemies of Cocoon. Their presence near the Sanctum fal'Cie is the reason Dajh was cursed in the first place. However, she cannot bring herself to tell Sazh the truth. Chapter 7 - Palumpolum With the help of the Cavalry, Fang searches for the other l'Cie. She has a debt to pay - her lost memory and forgotten Focus were the reason Serah was cursed by the fal'Cie. The Gran Pulse native later encounters Lightning in the city of Palumpolum and apologizes for Serah's fate. Lightning's response is a blow to the jaw. Elsewhere, Hope finally gets up the courage to confront Snow. The teenager is consumed with his lust for revenge, and attacks the NORA leader. Despite the boy's actions, Snow puts himself in danger, protecting the boy from an army air strike. The four l'Cie later regroup at Hope's house, and meet his father. They reconcile their differences and decide to work on finding a future, rather than dwelling on the past. Chapter 8 - Nautilus In Nautilus, the city of dreams, Sazh and Vanille's frantic flight from the Sanctum comes to an abrupt end. Dajh, now in the custody of the army, has used his l'Cie powers to track down his father. The boy turns to crystal upon completing his Focus - to locate an 'enemy' of Cocoon. A PSICOM officer appears before the unbelieving Sazh, and tells him the truth: Vanille is the reason his son was made into a l'Cie. Vanille admits her guilt. She offers no resistance when Sazh raises his pistols to fire. But Sazh realizes her death will change nothing, and lets Vanille go. Such mercy is all he has left to give. Chapter 9 - The Palamecia Lightning joins Hope, Snow, and Fang in an assault on the Sanctum flagship. The Cavalry has lent them its aid in rescuing the captured Sazh and Vanille. After a long search, Fang is finally reunited with Vanille. The six l'Cie then fight through the ship's defenses and come face-to-face with the Primarch, representative of the Sanctum. However, the truth that he reveals is beyond their wildest imagining. The Primarch who they thought to be human is actually a powerful fal'Cie by the name of Barthandelus. The fal'Cie also shocks them with the knowledge that their Focus is, in fact, the destruction of Cocoon. Barthandelus guides the l'Cie to a vestige hidden beneath the capital, where other truths await them. Chapter 10 - Fifth Ark The companions encounter Cid Raines, the commander of the Cavalry, in the bowels of the monster-infested Fifth Ark. He explains that should they complete their Focus and destroy Cocoon, then countless lives will be lost. This sacrifice is necessary to draw a deity known as the Maker back into the world. Raines then reveals himself as a l'Cie of Barthandelus. The soldiers of the Cavalry had been mere puppets of the fal'Cie. Now, however, the commander is acting under his own - human - will. To prevent Cocoon's destruction, he attacks Lightning and her friends. Although he is ultimately defeated, Raines still turns to crystal. He shows them how the fate of a l'Cie can be overcome. Chapter 11 - Gran Pulse The six l'Cie have crashed on Gran Pulse, the terrifying lowerworld that the people of Cocoon speak of in whispers. Seeking for a way to overcome their cruel fate, the companions travel to Oerba, Fang and Vanille's hometown. There, the uncover an ancient prophecy that tells how Fang and Vanille attacked Cocoon several centuries in the past. It also speaks of how they entered into crystal stasis, and later awoke, once again driven to destroy the floating shell. All their actions recorded and prophesized, but no mention of how to avert the catastrophe. But if they refuse to fight, then Cocoon will fall. Readying themselves for the conflict to come, the l'Cie head for Cocoon's capital once more. Chapter 12 - Eden Chaos rules in the capital city of Eden. Raines, though he wishes for the independence of mankind, is now a helpless tool of the fal'Cie. And the soldiers of the Cavalry who trusted him have now risen in revolt. They mean to slay Orphan, the l'Cie who lies at the center of Eden, unaware that its death would mean the destruction of Cocoon. To prevent this cruel catastrophe, Lightning and her fellow l'Cie battle through the streets in pursuit of the vengeful soldiers. They finally catch up with the Cavalry, only to see them transformed into hideous Cie'th. Only one thing remains to be done: the l'Cie must face Barthandelus, the mastermind behind all that has transpired. Chapter 13 - Orphan's Cradle Lightning and her companions claim victory over the mighty Barthandelus, but in doing so awaken Orphan - the fal'Cie who keeps Cocoon aloft. Their first battle with Orphan ends in failure, but through the sheer force of their belief, the six rise to fight again. They have the power to make miracles happen, and the strength to change their fate. Awakened to the power within them, the l'Cie achieve the impossible and defeat Orphan. At the moment of the fal'Cie's death, Cocoon begins to plummet towards Gran Pulse. Then a miracle occurs - Fang and Vanille undergo a transformation into a great crystal pillar that halts the fall of Cocoon. As the dust settles, Serah is freed from her crystal stasis, and greeted by Lightning's smiling face. Or so it was meant to be... ''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' Prologue She defied her fate and achieved the impossible, defeating the false gods who sought to enslave mankind. However, she did not get to see the new dawn. Instead, at the moment of her triumph, Lightning was dragged into the timeless world of Valhalla, where she became the goddess Etro's champion. Now, Lightning is faced with a foe unlike any that she has faced before: an enigmatic man called Caius Ballad. But even with her great strength, she cannot defeat Caius alone. Desperate, Lightning calls out to her sister Serah across time and space, for she is the only one who knows that Lightning is still alive. As Lightning's battle with Caius rages on, a young man named Noel Kreiss is sent to find Serah, and be there for her since Lightning no longer can... Episode 1: A World Without Cocoon Leaving Serah is haunted by a strange dream. Her dear sister, who has now been lost to her for three years, is fighting to protect a dying goddess in a strange world of death and chaos. The peaceful night sky over New Bodhum flashes bright as a strange meteorite crashes into the surface of Gran Pulse. Bizarre creatures start to wreak havoc in town, and it is Noel Kreiss who comes to Serah's rescue. "Come with me," he says. "We will travel the timeline and find your sister." Now Serah must make a fateful decision. Her chance to find Lightning and put her doubts to rest seems to have come at last. Bidding her own time farewell, Serah accepts the weapon that Lightning has gifted her, and resolves to follow this stranger into the future... Could her beloved sister still be alive? Episode 2: Unseen Intruder The Giant Serah and Noel find themselves in the Bresha Ruins -005 AF-, where a strange war weapon has been unearthed by a scientific organization called the Academy. The giant's presence is the result of a time paradox, which threatens to shut down research activities within the ruins. Serah and Noel meet Alyssa Zaidelle, a girl troubled by her memories of the Purge, and agree to defeat the towering machine in hopes of restoring the timeline to its original state. Episode 3: Part 1 - Prophecy of Hope Eclipse In the year -010 AF-, the fal'Cie Fenrir appears in the sky over the Yaschas Massif on Gran Pulse. It is so massive that it blocks the sun, causing an eclipse to darken the surrounding landscape. Serah and Noel find themselves in the ruined city of Paddra, where they are reunited with Hope Estheim, the director of the Academy. Hope shows Serah and Noel an Oracle Drive, a device used by an ancient people known as the 'Farseers' to record visions of the future. The vision within this Oracle Drive clearly depicts Lightning and the crystallization of Cocoon at the hands of Vanille and Fang, but the rest of its contents are too difficult to see. Perhaps a paradox is to blame? Determined to resolve it so they can see the vision more clearly, Noel and Serah depart. The Void It is -200 AF-. The past and future overlap in the village of Oerba. After Serah and Noel resolve the paradox affecting the area, they find another Oracle Drive and encounter the seeress from ancient times, Paddra Nsu-Yeul. Noel seems familiar with this girl, even though she does not know him, and he and Serah are viciously attacked by Caius Ballad. This is a Caius of the past, one who is determined to protect the sanctity of the timeline. After failing to defeat Serah and Noel in battle, Caius vanishes from Oerba along with Yeul and leaves the troubled time travelers with these cryptic words: "If you change the future, you change the past." The Dawn In an alternate timeline, the paradox affecting the Yaschas Massif never existed. Serah and Noel reintroduce themselves to Hope, and he shows them the Oracle Drive once again. This time, the prophecy within shows Lightning battling Caius in the Unseen Realm, as well as the fall of Cocoon. With Lightning proven to be alive, Serah and Noel venture off to find her. Meanwhile, Hope starts looking into a means of lessening the casualties if Cocoon does indeed fall. The Void Beyond -??? AF- Serah and Noel find themselves in the Void Beyond, Valhalla's shadow. The two rest for a short while, and then continue their journey with renewed strength and optimism. A wrong turn takes Serah and Noel to the locked gates of Serendipity. It seems as if the only way to open this casino is to resolve more paradoxes. The duo returns to the Historia Crux, the crossroads of the time continuum. Cyber Wars -Invasion- It is now -300 AF-. Serah and Noel journey to the Augusta Tower to investigate why its artificial intelligence has gone haywire. The two deduce that the AI was attacked from somewhere in the future, and while the attacker is not necessarily still in this time, Serah and Noel decide to explore the Augusta Tower further and uncover more of its mysteries. Episode 3: Part 2 - Oathbrand Reunion Serah and Noel arrive in the Sunleth Waterscape -300 AF-, where the fal'Cie that once maintained it have become dormant. Miniflan are everywhere, and Serah seems to experience a vision of the future that leads her to her fiancé, Snow Villiers. As the Flan join together to create a beast capable of corroding Cocoon's crystal pillar, Serah and Noel decide it is better to flee than risk death. Snow, however, wishes to keep fighting, as per his reckless nature. This puts him at odds with Noel, who guesses that the monstrous Flan's existence is the result of another paradox. Snow remains behind to protect the sleeping Vanille and Fang, while Serah and Noel travel to the time where the source of the paradox is thought to be. The Coliseum -??? AF- In the shadows of Valhalla, there exists a coliseum where doomed souls face each other in savage combat until the Day of Reckoning. Serah and Noel venture here, only to be dismissed by the Arbiter of Time, the coliseum's keeper. When the Arbiter of Time reveals that it is in possession of an artefact necessary for time travel, Noel agrees to take it off his hands in return for leaving the Arbiter's domain. The Storm Serah and Noel travel to the Archylte Steppe, where they help a team of hunters who are in possession of a machine that can change the weather. By using the device, Noel and Serah discover the monster that is creating the paradox affecting the Sunleth Waterscape. It appears this beast is capable of consuming several Flan at a time. Whenever it does, they are transported directly to the Sunleth Waterscape. Serah and Noel destroy this mighty fiend, and the amount of Flan plaguing the Sunleth Waterscape is greatly reduced. Back in the Sunleth Waterscape, Serah and Noel help Snow defeat the massive Flan once and for all, saving Cocoon's crystal pillar. Because there is no longer a reason for him to exist in this time, Snow vanishes without a trace. The Void Beyond -??? AF- Serah and Noel decide to rest in the Void Beyond. There, Noel asks if Serah has had any more dreams of the future, while Serah requests to know more about the seeress, Yeul. Noel knows nothing about the Yeuls they have met so far on their journey. While Serah theorizes that perhaps Yeul is a time traveler like them, Noel states that the Yeuls they meet in different time periods are actually reincarnations of the same person. After discussing how it is entirely possible that the future which Noel comes from no longer exists, he and Serah resume their search for Lightning. Episode 4: Skyborne Paradise Restoration In the year -400 AF-, a massive city stretches over the surface of Gran Pulse: Academia. All is not well in this metropolis, however, for a mysterious force has targeted Serah and Noel and is transforming civilians into monstrous Cie'th in an effort to destroy them. The pair encounters Caius, who accuses them of being contradictions in the timeline. According to Caius, Serah and Noel were killed in the Augusta Tower 200 years ago. Yet the fact that they are still alive and well makes them living paradoxes. There is something wrong with this Caius. If he sought to destroy Serah and Noel, he would eliminate them himself. Serah and Noel chase Caius through the streets of Academia, avoiding his Cie'th accomplices, but instead they encounter Yeul. Because the girl view herself as a contradiction to the timeline, she seeks her own destruction. Before Yeul dies, she tells Serah and Noel that Caius was never in the city to begin with. This means the man they encountered earlier was an impostor, a fabrication. The Tower New Life Episode 5: Time Marches On The Void Beyond -??? AF- The Void Beyond: New Bodhum A Dying World -700 AF- New Bodhum -700 AF- Extra Episode: Sazh's Story: Heads or Tails? Extra Episode: Snow's Story: Perpetual Battlefield The Last Episode: Promised Eternity The Promised Future -The Ark- Valhalla -??? AF- Another Beginning: Lightning's Story: Requiem of the Goddess ''Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII'' Prologue Luxerion The Dead Dunes Yusnaan The Wildlands The Final Day Category:Final Fantasy XIII-3 Datalog